


The Other Side

by panther



Series: Break a Little Heal a Lot Verse [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Post-Deathly Hallows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 12:32:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4060135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panther/pseuds/panther
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavender refuses to believe that she is dead. Gryffindors are not afraid of death and despite all they say about her, Lavender is a Gryffindor.</p><p>Slots in after chapter 4 of part 1</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> with thanks to my beta <3 I claimed a prompt at menthal health fest about a character who believed they died but somehow got it into my head that I was writing a fic about someone who did not believe they died. So this turned into a self prompt fic but still fits the themes and I hope people still like it.

No one ever understood why Lavender was sorted into Gryffindor but then no one knows anything about Lavender. They do not know that her parents fought in the first war. They do not know that she grew up without a father because of that war or that her mother was not sure whether to send her to Hogwarts at all or whether to keep her at home. They do not know how many times Lavender had to argue and barter and beg to be allowed to come back. They only see her as an airhead, a lesser witch who believes in a type of magic most do not, and as the girl with a huge crush on Ron Weasley. 

Those things may be true but they do not make her less of a Lion. Growing up facing racism at her muggle primary school and hearing people saying she was too dumb for Ron was hurtful but hardly the worst she has ever had thrown at her. When the second war comes she must again fight her mother and she insists that she could never face anyone again if she did not go back. A Gryffindor too afraid to go to school. No, that could not be her. For her mother, she does not go home when the battle begins. For her mother she strides into battle and she fights. Her mother is too good a woman to continue to live in fear if Lavender can do something about it. 

Death Eaters swarm across the courtyard like a nest of bees and for a moment Lavender wants to run but then a girl in the year below sends a hex and Lavender remembers why she is there. Her hexes are vicious and when she puts someone down they do not get back up. Only a healer will be able to sort them out and it gives Lavender a sense of grim satisfaction. As a known girlfriend of Ron Weasley in the past she was put in her fare share of detentions for no real reason and revenge feels good. It drives her on. 

Curses are thrown and it becomes obvious quickly that they mean to kill. She fights back, her pride growing, and then suddenly jaws are on her. Saliva drips down her neck and then there is pain. So much pain. Screaming comes soon after. Granger blasts the attacker away and Lavender blinks before her eyes find focus. Parvati. Dean. Lavender needs to go back to them. She does not even think about it. Stumping to her feet she holds her left hand to the wound and throws curses with her right. She stumbles. Her vision blurs but she fights on. From one end of the courtyard to the other until she collapses against a wall and falls unconscious. Or at least that is what she believes. 

She does not remember Parvati crying over her or the white sheet placed over her face. She does not remember Voldemort's death or the stunned silence that descends across Hogwarts. She only remembers the dorm room and finding it empty before going to find someone. No one notices her at first but she figures they must still be wrapped up in their own thoughts and emotions and so leaves them be. Her mother needs to know that she is safe so Lavender will need to find an owl eventually but for now she will start with her friends. She cannot remember what happened to any of them. 

The hallways are empty and so Lavender naturally makes her way towards the Great Hall. She has no idea how long she has been asleep but given she woke up in her dorm and not the hospital wing she must be one of the lucky ones. She cannot hear her footsteps but she puts that down to the loud explosions of the battle. A healer must have missed it, but that can all be fixed later. It is hardly of great importance. However, the closer she gets to the hall the more concerned she gets. Hogwarts was overrun with people, from both sides, yet Lavender has yet to see a single soul. She hopes they are alright. Given where she woke up she is determined that her side won but still the quiet begins to get eerie. 

The doors of the Great Hall sit open so she wanders again and is once again shocked. It is completely empty apart from two figures at the top table. Professor McGonagall sits with her head bent towards Professor Flitwick and both are deep in conversation with a stack of parchment between them. Lavender is confused but makes her way forward. They do not hear her approach so Lavender decides it must be important and almost feels guilty for interrupting. 

"Professor?"

Professor McGonagall flinches and then turns to stare at her open mouthed.

"Miss Brown! I mean, Lavender. You stayed. Good heavens."

"Stayed? Of course I stayed. I was knocked unconscious in the battle. I just woke up."

Her head of house exchanges a look with Professor Flitwick before sighing.

"My dear, Lavender, I do not mean to shock you but the battle was several months ago and...I'm afraid you did not make it. You are a ghost dear. You came back."

***

Ghost.

Came back.

Dead.

Did not make it.

Ghost. 

No.

"I....no."

Stunned she looks down at her hands and finds herself looking right through them to the stone floor. There had been no reason to look anywhere but around and forward when she got up. Her own appearance, for once, had not occurred to her at all. 

"I thought you went somewhere! I thought that you got to choose!"

"You do, my dear. You must have chosen to remain here with us rather than move on," Flitwick says gently but Lavender only shakes her head violently. No. Lavender would never choose to stay somewhere only to watch everyone that she loved die. 

"I don't believe you!" She cries out before turning on her heal and storming away. Though now she is aware, now she has been told, she realises it does not feel like walking and bitterly she remembers the ghosts she has always seen around the Castle. They do not walk. They float. They float like she is floating now. If she was able to she would cry. Instead she just flees with no idea where to go.

*

The sun has fallen, risen, and fallen again when Lavender feels a presence behind her. Turning, she sees the Fat Friar hovering with a gentle smile on his face. 

"Evening. Wonderful is it not? I do enjoy a nice sunset."

"What do you want?" She does not mean to be blunt or rude, but a million things are going through her head and she has never spoken to the Hufflepuff ghost in her life. She is sure he has said hello a few times but Lavender never paid much attention to the ghosts. It did not seem brave to stay behind when everyone else moved on and now she has done just that. She is not alive. She is not a Gryffindor. She does not know what she is. She hardly feels she can really call herself dead. 

"To see you, my dear. To help. Minerva expressed her worry and well, more than one ghost finds themselves here and confused. I must begin by saying that even if you cannot remember, you could only be here if you chose to be so. Perhaps you should think of what matters most to you and what you last remember. Often the answer is there." The Friar says quietly before moving to Lavender's side. It makes Lavender wonder what she looks like as a ghost. She has still not looked. She decides she does not want to. 

Taking his advice on board she thinks back. The battle is the last thing she can remember and her desperation to save her friends. Then pain. So much pain. 

"My friends. They were in trouble. I had to save them. They were braver than me, smarter than me. They deserved to live. I...I...I needed to know that they are ok. My mother. She has lost so much. I had to know she was ok too. I had to know....that she knew I did what I had to?"

"Sound reasoning for wanting to come back. It seems that is why you made your choice. I am afraid that it is permanent though. There is no going back but you are of course, always welcome at Hogwarts. I myself returned for my congregation. It was the plague you see. No one writes that down because I'm no one important. I just happened to be the only Hufflepuff ghost around when the last one left. You know...I cannot even remember her name. Anyway, the plague. It decimated my parish. It was awful. A whole village died within days. Empty houses and only the cries of unfed cattle remained. It got me too in the end. Not even magic could defeat the black death but I had to know the end of the story so...I cameback." He states quietly and it almost feels like he is talking more to himself than to Lavender but it still helps. It is good to know that not everyone comes back due to a fear of death but because of a love of life. 

"I think that is pretty important." Lavender says after a moment. 

"Thank you, darling. You came back for your friends and family. That is rather important to me too."

"I'm still confused."

"But of course you are. We are all hear for you, the living and the dead. Minerva and Filius worry about you. Our fellow ghosts feel your presence and long to help you but are respecting your need for privacy." The Friar says gently. 

"I want to see my friends but then I don't. I don't want them to act like I am still here when I am not but what if they find out later? From someone trying to be cruel? They don't deserve that."

"There is no reason that Minerva cannot go and inform your closest and yet say you do not feel them seeing you would be right in this moment. They have had a few months to face their grief but we can state you wish for more. When they have moved on, you could see them. "

"Is that how it is done?"

"Not always. It is however, I think, the easiest way for all involved. You, after all, have a whole new life to learn to lead. Yes dear, a life. Ghosts live all around the world and experience and see so much. You could travel, learn, find friends. You can help people, scare people, amuse people, whatever you want to be. I know Nick is keen to talk to you but well...he is Nick. He is a bit brash and he knows you avoided him a lot when he was in the Common Room."

"So you were shoved on me then?" Lavender snaps. 

"Not at all! I volunteered! You always seemed such a sweet young lady. You were carefree when so many seemed so serious. I wanted to help you. I had to fight that damn Lady Ravenclaw over it. One good deed in the battle and she thinks she can walz into our affairs and take over!"

"Lady Ravenclaw? In the battle?"

"Oh yes, she provided Harry Potter with vital information in the defeating of Voldemort."

"You say his name."

The Friar laughs and it echoes through the corridor. "Well, what was he ever going to do to me? Kill me? No, I have never feared his name. I just never wanted to scare the children but you faced his army face to face. I doubt you are afraid."

"No, guess not. I still don't know what to do."

A ghostly hand reaches out and Lavender prepared herself for the bitter chill but it does not come. Instead it feels warm and comfortable. "My dear, that is why we are here to help you. Will you come meet some of the others? Perhaps some you don't know? Those who keep to themselves as I get the feeling you would like to?"

"I think I would like that."

They drift away together. One is happy. The other is finally accepting.


End file.
